


Third Time's The Charm

by Senket



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: M/M, Reincarnation, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-06-25
Updated: 2006-06-25
Packaged: 2017-11-12 08:14:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/488660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Senket/pseuds/Senket
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>3 instances where Seifer glances Leon in Twilight Town and he can't figure out what his name is though he KNOWS he should know. One instance where he discovers why. Maybe Leon can heal after all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Hot

Once, he had seen a boy that had beaten him (Soren? Stora? Something like that…) with someone else- an older man, brunet, in leather and fur and _belts_. He wouldn't have cared, normally, except for the trespassing of course- a way to waste time, but- he had been painfully familiar, his name just on the tip of his tongue and burning through him, through his head, through his heart, and why, _why_ couldn't he place him!

The man gave him a once-over, eyes flat- obviously, he did not recognize him. But for a split second, the man's eyes had intensified- and in that moment it was as though he became the only real thing in the world- but different and changed and _elsewhere_ and so _painfully_ there at the same time. And then he had turned away, once again following Storen or Stora or whatever to a different destination, where he would not be welcome to follow.

"Don't wear that hat ever again." The only words he'd heard the man utter and he didn't want to forget them, burned them into his head like he burned the fur and leather and cool eyes into his head. Why, why, _why_ couldn't he think of his name!

He burned the hat the next day, and wished he was a bit older so he could leave home and go find that man- and not be treated like a child. He _needed_ to see him again.


	2. Cold

An overexcited Sora decided that, one day, he very much wanted to spar with Leon. Leon agreed that a match would do him good, though he refused to fight in Hollow Bastion considering destroying things they were trying to rebuild would be a bit… moronic. Thankfully, Sora knew a great place to spar- Twilight Town's very own sandlot.

Leon had no issues with that, having previously been at Twilight Town to help Sora figure out how to put posters around the town fastest for the next struggle competition, along with giving him pointers to move bags of garbage up the slope more quickly and efficiently.

Neither expected anything to really happen, because neither had noticed the intensity of a certain gang-leader's reaction to the brunet.

Seifer had, as usual, been loitering in the sandlot with his friends, pulling off the cool act even with his sleeveless coat and exposed stomach in the frigid winter air. He smiled in that smug but disarming way at an antic of Raijin's, before the emerald spark in his eyes faded at the sight of the man and boy entering- that man that he'd been unable to forget, and somehow still unable to remember completely. 'For what was his name?'

The brunet paid no attention to him, strolling casually to the field, Sora bounding after him with two struggle clubs in tow. Seifer could not deal with the total ignorance of his presence- not from this man.

He snatched one of the blue clubs from the keyblade hero's fingers. "Hey, you!" Leon turned slowly, crossing his arms across his chest as he regarded the teenager with little interest. "I demand you fight me!"

"…Fine." Seifer barely had time to think before the older male was at him.

Leon continued to advance on the blonde, eyes cold as they bore into Seifer's bottle-glass green, making the teenager's entire body jerk back every time he smacked the practice club back. He sneered dangerously, sending the blue object flying with one last hit, slipping out of Seifer's trembling fingers.

He tumbled back, exertion showing in the light tremble of his limbs and the faint sheen of sweat covering his brow and the back of his neck. He fell back as Leon took a swing at his head, losing his balance and falling on his back.

Storm-gray narrowed, no shred of compassion showing itself if Leon's frozen gaze. "You're about ten years too young to beat me, kid."

The words felt like a punch in the gut for Seifer- like he had been stabbed with a revolver, and it made so much sense to him even though a revolver was a gun so how could he be stabbed by it? It was so darkly wrong to hear those words from the brunet, painful.

'I should be just level with him,' he thought, and it didn't make sense but it was true. 'Why aren't I?'

Raijin and Fuujin were between the fighters now, protective, giving the older man cold looks. "Seifer just hasn't been doin' so good lately, ya know?" Fuu's single visible red eye narrowed at Leon, lips tightening in a thin line. She obviously agreed.

Seifer was staring right through them, eyes wide and hurt as he watched Leon's reaction.

The brunet stood there for a moment, regarding them with little care, before sneering for a moment, tossing the toy club to the ground, and walking straight out of the sandlot. Sora watched the group for a moment, looking almost horrified, before running after the departed man.

Seifer's brows noted together, and he sat up shakily, fingers grasping at his coat weakly. He was in great pain, and yet the man had not actually hit him at any point- but his heart hurt, and he could almost feel that revolver's ice-cold blade twisting into him.

"Seifer?"

The teen looked up slowly, locking gazes with Fuujin. She cocked her head, expression showing worry if you knew her enough. He tried to say something, really he did, but nothing could come out, and he was afraid that if he forced it, he might start sobbing. He was a man, so he could never allow such a thing. He tried a weak smile and let his head drop again.

"Hey, that loser's just tryin' to take advantage of the fact that he's way older than you, ya know?"

No one bothered to remind him that Seifer had initiated the match.

It was a cold day in Twilight Town.


	3. Agony

The third time Seifer saw the mysterious man, he felt only dread. The icy pain from his sharp defeat had not faded, intimidation forming rigidly inside him.

But whatever had pulled him towards the brunet was stronger, and he felt himself follow him like a shadow, desperately searching for the last piece of the puzzle.

Streets passed like a dream, blue eyes only focused on the strong man before him.

Eventually they reached Seifer's beloved sandlot. The scarred brunet moved into the center of the ring and settled, shoulders tense. "You get your kicks out of stalking people?"

The voice was rough, harsh- Seifer felt a shiver run up his spine, his throat burning. He stepped out of the shadows hesitantly, treading with great care. "Only… when it feels like I should remember something- I can't stop thinking about it, night and day- what is it that I should know?"

The man bristled visibly, turning with a dangerous look in his eyes. "You… How dare you suggest you know anything about me, how-" Something near panic and pain flashed in his eyes and he jerked his head to the side, long bangs falling across his face and shadowing his expression.

Seifer stumbled back, fingers scratching against familiar stone for support. Something about the man's anger sapped his strength, made him feel as though his soul was collapsing in on itself.

He watched as time stretched. The man shuddered suddenly, then turned around, intent on leaving.

"Wait," he called out to the swordsman, "wait." He knew if he walked off now, everything would be over- before it had even started. Desperation gripped him, clawing its way up his ribcage and into his throat as he watched, not noting even the smallest shift in the brunet's gait. "Wait! Squall!"

He had only a moment to be surprised as the name passed his lips, before he found himself pinned to the wall, a sword jammed into the stone beside his head. He felt a bead of blood roll down his cheek, but he was only faintly aware of it.

Instead, he was intently focused on the face that he had burned into his mind what felt like forever ago. But now the man's carefully blank expression was twisted- into rage or what else, he couldn't be sure. Something deep in him told him that Squall- it felt so good to finally call him that… he'd always wanted to, and it had finally broken free, and it was amazing- was suffering.

Previously unnoticed lines in his forehead and between his eyes were defined, and up close he could see the odd color of the skin beneath each eye. His thin mouth was twisted into a snarl, and from their proximity he could tell his entire body was shuddering. The look in Squall's eyes was wild- his pupils were a sliver of darkness in a sea of grey-blue. He looked incensed… terrified, resentful, in the most dangerous of pains.

"Never," he hissed, "ever call me that again. Do you understand? Never."

He could do nothing but stand, trying desperately to keep his knees from giving out, and stare wide-eyed at the older man as he felt something cracking inside him.

The gunblade was pulled out of the mortar and stone suddenly, and 'Leon' hurried out of the arena.

Seifer shivered, sliding down the wall to drop heavily to the ground. He drew his knees against his chest, pressing his burning eyes against them.

He had remembered his name. He had remembered his name! Wasn't that worth something? Didn't he deserve something? He didn't want to cause Squall pain! He didn't- god. God. He already wanted to see him again.

He already wanted to see him again…


	4. Faith

After the brunet had disappeared, Seifer had slowly become a desperate man. He withered under the pressure of Squall's hatred, the image of agonized, blazing eyes burned into him, sickness and pain and apology boiling up in his throat and choking off his voice.

Fuujin and Raijin saw less and less of him, sought him out, but he was always working, and for what they never knew. He never told them anything, no more than 'I'm busy,' and when it came to it, 'I'm just trying to make a bit of money,' his voice exhausted and mildly defensive.

As far as Twilight Town residents could tell, he'd been possessed by the ghost of diligence or something, because he seemed desperate to do nothing but work. Eventually he disappeared altogether, and speculation amassed. Some joked uneasily that the work-ghost had pulled him into the haunted mansion in the woods outside town, and he was busy renovating the place.

Speculations were wrong, and he'd used up most of his recently-made cash to buy himself a flight out of town and into the new hub of civilized life, the 'big city' of the Kingdoms, now that they were mostly open to each other- Radiant Garden.

He figured it was the first place he could look, and with the mass of jobs he'd taken he was sure to have enough here-and-there experience to get him a higher paying job, enough to keep looking.

Luckily, he didn't have to look for long. On his way across the marketplace he glanced a boy storming down the stairs: a familiar one, in fact, with a head of brown spikes and, as far as he was concerned, the dorkiest clown shoes in existence.

Originally he'd intended to question the boy. He'd seen him with Squ… 'Leon' enough to know they were acquainted. Instead he was lucky to discover he'd been lead straight to jackpot.

Unfortunately, the angry mayor was not a prize he could claim quite yet, since he'd preferred to get yelled at when they were alone, without the keyblader running about.

So he skulked in the shadows of the odd houses and a set of stairs two stories high, eyes fixed on the pair before what he had not-yet-learned was a wizard's home- and a temporary home for the entire Radiant Garden Rebuilding Crew, Sora, Riku and Kairi occasionally included.

Sora screamed the brunet's name and Leon looked at him sharply, annoyed, and shut the door, leaning against the wall.

"What do you want?" he asked, sounding stressed and edgy and annoyed. Fingers jarred through dirty hair, and he tossed his head to the side.

"I got a call from Olette," Sora told him, brows scrunched together and arms crossed over his chest. " _She_ says _Seifer_ disappeared, and its probably _your fault_ because she saw you yelling at him and be a jackass right before he started acting all weird."

The was a long pause, Squall's face passing through several expressions- fear, loss, crumbling resolve, anger, hatred- before he managed to gather himself somewhat, raising his head to look at Sora again. He looked haunted, gray eyes dull. "His name is Seifer?"

The hiding blonde felt his throat tighten, wanting to apologize desperately for such an odd thing, just so Squall wouldn't have to look that way anymore.

" _Yes,_ his name is Seifer. Leon! That's not even important!"

"It's just another thing I didn't need," the man answered softly, choking on his own words.

Sora looked at him oddly, before shaking his head as he realized he was getting detracted. "What the hell did you do to him, anyway?" He tried to look angry, but it didn't look right on his face. He was annoyed, maybe aggravated, but being truly angry at anything was hard for him now, his effort having paid off and the world having returned to him everything precious.

Leon, somewhere in the dark depths of his soul, felt bitter and cheated; hadn't he worked just as hard?

He looked away, steel-gray eyes searching the sky for answers. "I told him to stop following me around."

Sora, always anxious to help, practically jumped at his answers. "And you think that'd make him disappear? Be real! Leon, tell me what's _really_ going on!"

"Nothing."

"Le- _on_!"

"Sora."

"Why are you so mean to him?"

"Sora!"

" _Leon!_ " The sharp exclamation from the teenager caused Leon's expression to turn faintly surprised, before he became resigned. The Chosen was not going to let him off the hook, but it was a place he really didn't want to go near. The boy's expression softened. "Leon, there's something else you're worried about, and you need to tell someone."

"You don't understand, Sora."

"Then explain it to me!" he yelled, stomping his foot.

"Why don't you just shut the hell up and mind your own business?!"

The older man had been punched across the jaw before he knew it was coming. He looked into the boy's face, angry and resentful. It had been the start of a spectacular battle, all the more amazing for the great restraint both showed in not damaging anything around them in the slightest.

It ended oddly, with the gunblader sprawled against pavement, torn and bleeding, Sora standing over him. The adolescent was breathing laboriously, teeth clenched as he glared down at the man, pointing the dull keyblade at the man's chest. "Are you gonna tell me now, or do I have to beat you up s'more?"

Defeated and lonely, Leon resigned himself to a few hours of tearing open barely-stitched and ever-unhealing wounds. "Go inside and get some potions, I'll figure things out before you get back…"

Seifer watched the boy vanish into the house and started moving towards the brunet before he knew he was doing it. He paused in shock-realization, shrinking back as gray eyes racked the area near where he stood, narrowed. This would be a bad, bad time… but he didn't want to leave. Besides, this was about him- well sort of. He deserved to know, after all the odd feelings he'd been forced to wrestle with.

Leon waited against the wall with his arms crossed, chin against his chest and hair falling across his face, making it unreadable. He exhaled in a quiet hiss between clenched teeth when Sora came back out. He purposefully took his sweet time drinking the potion, though it tasted terrible, refusing to look at the boy in the eye.

Sora coughed loudly after a few moments, looking at him sternly. Leon made a tense comment about who was oldest, and Sora replied simply with something about maturity, smirking faintly. Leon avoided talking to the point where it looked like Sora was about to pull out Oblivion on him.

He sighed heavily, sinking to the ground. Confused, the teenage sat beside him.

"I wasn't born here, Sora."

"Really?" he mused. "I thought all of you guys wanted to come back here because it was your home..?"

"My home doesn't exist," he answered, teeth gritted. "Not anymore. It never returned."

"I come from a place called Balaam Garden. The names were… alike enough. Maybe that's why I stayed at first…"

"My… friends there… Rinoa, Zell, Quistis… there were too many of them, we couldn't… We evacuated all the students first, god knows if most of them survived… there were a few in Traverse for a while… I don't know." He spoke quietly, slowly, as though it was hard for him to gather a clear line of thought out of the mess that was his past.

"They all said the survivors would need me. They wrestled me on the damn ship and… god. Selphie and Irvine were with me- Selphie was our pilot, after all. I had to _watch_." His voice shook and he cut himself off, swallowing thickly.

"Selphie was- she'd dealt with total destruction before, I guess… it was a bit too much. She wasn't watching her piloting too closely, so she hit something. We were heading straight for an asteroid so… they forced me onto an _escape pod._ Irvine wouldn't go without Selphie… I had to watch _them_ crash." He stopped again for a long while, so that he wouldn't show any weakness. He hated dealing with his past. He didn't have to say anything around the others, but Sora… Sora didn't _understand_! Things had been terrible, but no one he loved had died.

In the shadows, Seifer had developed the oddest expression. The entire thing made him sick, and an echo in him told him- not only should Squall not have been saying all these things, but he should be reassuring him. It was only _natural_.

"So," he started again, voice low, "out of everyone I knew it was down to me and Seifer."

"… 'Seifer'?"

"Yes," he hissed, fists clenching. " _Seifer._ "

"So, 'Squall' and Seifer, all alone land in a pod in the Radiant Garden wastes, knocked unconscious by the landing. Yuffie found us, because Cid had pretended to hide something of hers around there to get her to leave him alone for a while. You can probably guess the rest. Aerith healed us, Tifa talked to Seifer- he was… stronger than me. I couldn't even start to talk about what had happened, then. He said it was only because I was closer to them, but he had lost Fuujin and Raijin."

Seifer thought the entire thing was getting completely out of control.

Leon pressed the palms of his hands against his eyes, breathing slowly- it was painfully obvious that his was consciously making it that way.

"Leon, I'm so sor-"

"Save your breath. I'm not done yet."

Sora looked shocked that there might be more. Well, after all he knew Seifer- just never imagined they might know each other. And why would have Seifer left Radiant Garden for Twilight Town? He supposed they must've been some of the students Leon was talking about, and they had made it out. It made enough sense to him.

"Seifer," the gunblader started again slowly, "is not the Seifer you know. He was my age. Actually…" a flash of something akin to a faint smile ghosted across his lips, before being cut off abruptly, "a faint bit older."

He made an odd, frustrated sound, running shaky fingers though his blood-crusted hair.

"He was the only thing I had left." Sora had to swallow.

"Goddamn idiot had been around all my life," he continued, gritting his teeth. "Pissing me off for most of it, imagine. And he just kept doing it. To distract me, because he thought it was funny, I don't even know. It was a part of him just as it was a part of me." He laughed quietly- and both listeners thought to themselves that it sounded painfully fake. "Yuffie would love to tell you all about him," he added softly, leaning forward, hair obscuring his face once again.

Leon paused for so long Sora was afraid he'd stopped talking altogether, nudging the man. Leon jerked his head to the side, and the younger brunet settled back for a while longer.

Seifer was getting annoyed. Sure, Squall had led a terrible life, but he was getting really sore here!

He was so busy bitching he almost missed it when Leon started up again.

"We got… closer, I guess. We always had a foolish sort of relationship and… well, never mind, I'll spare you useless details. We… got married. I suppose."

It was where Leon got weird. He stood and began to pace, moving much more than he ever did- turning here, running fingers through his hair, reaching for a ring that didn't exist around his finger, running his palms down the side of his pants. Sora winced and stared at his feet, unable to watch Leon's equivalent of breaking down- or trying not to and failing.

"My vows…" he started again with a wicked laugh, digging his nails into his scalp, "my vows said I'd… never let anything happen to him like happened to the others." Hot tears fought their way to his eyes but he swept them away, clenching his jaw.

"And come the fall of Radiant Garden, _he_ was the one to force me on the damn ship and close the door. That damned fucking asshole, _all my life_ I should have seen that _coming_ , and his last fucking words were 'I'll see you later'! I can't _stand_ him, I can't-"

He cut off abruptly, swallowing, and turned around to stare at Sora for a second or two before hurrying off. Seifer watching him pass before darting after him as quietly as possible.

Sora sighed sadly, slumping. He heard the door open and close, and pink dust across his vision. "Aerith, I-"

"After that," she started over him, as though continuing Leon's speech, "he wouldn't let anyone call him Squall anymore. 'Squall wouldn't have let him die,' he said, 'Squall would've pushed _him_ on the damn ship. I wasn't strong enough.' We tried to tell him Seifer wouldn't have left him, but… nothing to do. He won't let himself heal, even after he threw his ring away."

She shook her head, sighing. "He'd say it wasn't his. Squall was married to Seifer, but Squall didn't exist anymore."

Sora laughed weakly, though he looked ready to cry. "And I thought _I_ had it bad."

"Let's just leave him on his own for now…"

Regardless of their decision, Leon wasn't going to be alone for long.

"You're really stupid, you know that?" The juvenile sounded rather angry for someone who wasn't really involved in the situation as he moved towards the brunet. The man was sitting on the edge of the chasm, feet dangling over, fingers playing with his Greaver pendant

Lucky for him, Leon was too worn out to beat him up for showing his face. "What do you want?" he hissed, shoulders tensing.

Seifer ignored the question, seating himself near by not next to Leon, looking over the odd blue landscape. "You think he'd want you to suffer forever? If he knew you'd act this way, he would've rather died with you. Who wants to die for someone who's just going to grieve for their whole life?"

"Would you just _shut up_? You don't understand what it feels like. Don't just run your mouth at me, brat."

"I lost you, didn't I?" he answered a half-beat later, voice tight and airy and oddly old.

"Don't talk like you're him," he hissed, digging his fingers into the ground. "There's _no way_ you're him. Even if you died and had been reborn, you couldn't be more than four by now."

"Does it matter?" he answered softly. He reached around his neck and unclasped something, pulling a chain out from under his shirt. Unraveling Leon's fingers, he let the entire thing drop in the man's palm. "And do you really think he'd ever willingly let you break your vows?" He smiled faintly, shrugged, and trudged off.

Squall stared at the ring in his hand, shivered, traced the 'forever and always' etched into the gold and finally let himself cry.

He didn't return until the next morning, once again quiet, a wall to those that didn't know him. He was faintly surprised to discover the din of breakfast- it could be bad, but not _this_ bad. He understood when he noticed Seifer's face among them- Tifa and Aerith with odd theories on how it was possible for two Seifers to exist, and if their consciousnesses could have melded, if the Balaam Seifer was just slipping slowly into the Twilight Town Seifer or if he was the main Seifer laying dormant within the younger Seifer…

Yuffie was rambling on to Seifer as she used to, the blonde interjecting with snide comments and useless jokes.

Cid coughed loudly as he noticed Leon and quiet settled over the table. Yuffie certainly looked happy. Seifer was avoiding looking at him, looking faintly uncomfortable. Aerith watched with an expectant smile, Tifa smirking at him. Cloud was raising an eyebrow at him, which really irked him, and Cid looked like he was trying to gauge his possible reactions. Sora, for his part, looked guilty, as though it was his fault Seifer was there.

"What?" he snorted, before starting to walk towards the shower.

"Wait." It was Seifer. He turned and looked at him through half-lidded eyes, arms crossed defensively.

"What?"

"Um, this may be pushing it, but… do you know where I can find a job?"

He watched for a second or two before turning around, walking again towards the door. "Reconstruction could always use more people."

He didn't smile. _Squall_ never did. Not for petty reasons like that anyway.

Maybe in a while. He had some things to get used to first.


	5. Time and Space

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two epilogues in which Seifer is persistent.

Squall grumbled as he cleaned the gunblade, sending a quick glare in Seifer's direction. " _No_."

"Oh, come _on_ Squall, just a kiss."

" _No._ And I told you not to call me that."

He shrugged and sat awfully close to the brunet, grinning. "Yeah, but you didn't mean it."

"I _did_ mean it."

"Fine, but only the first time, and that was only because you weren't willing to admit I was Seifer."

He grumbled and rubbed harshly, studiously ignoring the way the teenager leaned towards him. "You _aren't_ Seifer."

"Oh yeah?" he had a smirk on, one of challenge- one Squall recognized. He wasn't sure whether to be hurt or relieved. "Everyone else seems to think I am."

"They're wrong."

"How did I know your name then?"

"You heard it someplace."

"Yeah _right_!" He laughed outright and Squall spared him another glare.

Seifer groaned, bouncing childishly. "Come on, just one kiss."

"No."

"Squ _all_!"

"You're too young for me."

"Yeah, whatever."

"How old are you, Seifer?"

"Eighteen in a month," he answered proudly.

The Radiant Garden mayor snorted, tossing his head. "My point exactly."

"Why, how old are _you_?" the blonde was grinning, and Squall was forced to glare at him. "Right, right, Twenty-six, I know. You know, its not _that_ bad."

"It is that bad. And illegal."

"More than willing here babe," Seifer answered with a gruff laugh. "It's just a kiss. We're not fucking or anything. _Yet._ " Seifer grinned crookedly and Squall rolled his eyes.

"No."

"Please?"

" _No._ "

"Jesus Princess, give me a _good_ reason and I'll go."

"Don't call me that."

"I'll call you what I like, _Squall-boy._ At least I'm not calling you 'chicken wuss.'"

"Have you no respect for the dead?"

"He'd like it better if it wasn't all formal about it. Besides, he'd die of shock in the afterlife if I was. See, I AM Seifer!"

"Seifer, go away."

He pouted, though there was a mischievous flicker in his eyes. "Aww, but I thought you _liked_ me!"

Squall turned to face Seifer so he could tell him off _properly_ when the blonde leaned forward to peck his lips and strode off laughing.

"That boy will be the death of me," Squall remarked to himself dryly.

He went back to his gunblade with a faint smile, thinking that the next few years would be awfully slow until it was alright to be in love with Seifer again.

That would be a day to look forward to.

…for now though, it was kind of stomach turning. It'd be like Cloud and Sora or something. …Cloud and Sephiroth when Cloud was younger?

…On second thought he really didn't want to go down that path- ever.

* * *

"Squall, lets go out."

"No."

"Why not?"

"You're too young."

"I'm 18."

"So you are."

"Squall."

"Sorry."

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Squall, lets go out."

"No."

"But it's my twenty-second birthday, how long do I have to wait?"

"Forever."

"'And always,' that we'll be together, not _apart_!"

"Seifer…"

"Squall."

"Sorry."

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Squall, lets go out."

"No."

"I'm twenty-five now."

"I know that."

"And you're thirty-two. It's not bad."

Squall turned to face the blonde. It was somewhat the same then when the other Seifer had died- having passed the age where he would stop growing, Seifer stood broad-shouldered and taller than Squall's slim figure. The brunet smiled faintly, allowing himself to relax. He stepped closer, smoothing calloused fingers against the young man's chiseled jaw. "Let's go out."

Seifer grinned, sweeping the slight man into his arms, pressing his nose into the smooth locks. "Squall…"

"Sorry," he answered quietly.

"Damn right," the man answered cheerfully, tugging away. Fingers sliding under Squall's chin, he pushed it up so that they could look at each other straight in the eye.

He flashed a smug grin, to which Squall rolled his eyes, and leaned in to claim his prize.

He'd been intending on kissing the life out of the mayor for quite a while now. Better get started.


End file.
